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The post-Hogmanay atmosphere is always sobering, and never more than this year when the party may be over for some many people in so many ways. During 2017, three great political experiments - Brexit, the Trump Presidency and the Catalonian independence project - failed to progress beyond the damage limitation stage into the payoffs their proponents expected. In Scotland, the snap UK election was a piece of bad luck for the SNP and accelerated the comeback of Scottish Conservatives and Labour.

Austria’s new centre-right government plans to introduce dual citizenship for members of Italy’s German-speaking minority. These plans have been met with suspicion or outright rejection by all parties in Rome but have been welcomed by many minority leaders. CCC Researcher Patrick Utz asks what it would mean for German-speaking South Tyroleans to hold an Austrian passport besides their Italian one, and what are the implication for the existing autonomy provisions in Italy’s northernmost province.

The first stage deal reached between the UK and the EU27 is an important staging post, says Kirsty Huges, but any suggestions that this opens the path to an easy future relationship are wide of the mark.

The UK-EU27 deal on EU citizens’ rights, the divorce bill and Northern Ireland’s border will unlock the second stage of Brexit talks at next week’s European Council summit in Brussels. The summit is expected to issue guidelines on a transition period while the crucial trade guidelines will come later perhaps in February or March.

The decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union has major consequences for the transport, logistics and supply chain sector. This statement draws attention to the principal issues relating to the movement of goods which have been identified to date by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Ireland (“the Institute”) and which should be considered by public authorities and by the transport, logistics and supply chain sector.Brexit will impact on three equally important aspects of Irish trade:

Decisions over the repatriation of powers and the role of a 'UK single Market' will have significant implications for the future of devolution and the nature of the UK as a state, says Michael Keating.

The EU Withdrawal Bill passed its first parliamentary hurdle in the House of Commons on Monday night. On Tuesday, both the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government tabled legislative consent memorandums making clear their opposition to the Bill as it stands. Professor Nicola McEwen highlights the key issues at stake for devolution, and considers some next steps.

What’s the issue?

Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit ‘red line’ on a role for the European Court of Justice has been a major source of complication in the early stages of the negotiations, writes Tobias Lock. Analysing the recent UK government negotiating paper on dispute resolution, he argues that its shift in emphasis from no ECJ jurisdiction to no ‘direct’ jurisdiction could prove significant and enable an eventual compromise with the EU to be found.

In the first of our new blog series, Politics in a Changing Spain, Dr Robert Liñeira (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) looks at the recent parliamentary election and its implications for the future of Spanish politics.

In their contribution to our majority nationalism series, Antoine Bilodeau of Concordia University and Luc Turgeon of the University of Ottawa share the result of their survey which compares the way in which Quebecers and Canadians construct community boundaries.